Sir James King, 1st Baronet,

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

(13 July 1830 – 1 October 1911) was a Scottish businessman who served as

Lord Provost of Glasgow The Right Honourable Lord Provost of Glasgow is the convener of the Glasgow City Council. The Lord Provost serves both as the chair of the city council and as a figurehead for the entire city, and is elected by the city councillors from among i ...

1886 to 1889. He was Director of the

Clydesdale Bank Clydesdale Bank () is a trading name used by Clydesdale Bank plc for its retail banking operations in Scotland. In June 2018, it was announced that Clydesdale Bank plc's holding company, CYBG, would acquire Virgin Money for £1.7 billi ...

for over forty years. He was also Chairman of the

Caledonian Railway Company The Caledonian Railway (CR) was one of the two biggest of the five major Scottish railway companies prior to the 1923 Grouping. It was formed in 1845 with the objective of forming a link between English railways and Glasgow. It progressively ex ...

. His family motto was “Honos Industriae Praemium”.

Life

He was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

on 13 July 1830Sir James King
Retrieved 2 July 2018. the eldest of seven children to John King of Leverholme and Campsie, and his wife, Christina McNie. He attended Glasgow High school then

Glasgow University The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in post-nominals; ) is a public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ...

before joining the family business of Hurlet & Campsie Alum Company, in their offices at 77 Union Street in Glasgow. The firm made various raw chemical products, including potash and alum. He played a very active part in the life of Glasgow joining the Town Council in 1874 and being variously

Dean of Guild A Dean of Guild, under Scots law, was one of a group of burgh magistrates who, in later years, had the care of buildings. The leader of the group was known as Lord Dean of Guild. Originally, the post was held by the head of the Guild brethren of ...

, Chairman of the Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, Dean of Faculties at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, and Chairman of the Clyde Navigation Trust. He was also Deputy Lieutenant and a Justice of the Peace for

Lanarkshire Lanarkshire, also called the County of Lanark (; ), is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area and registration county in the Central Lowlands and Southern Uplands of Scotland. The county is no l ...

. In 1877, he was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

. His proposers were

William Thomson, Lord Kelvin William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin (26 June 182417 December 1907), was a British mathematician, mathematical physicist and engineer. Born in Belfast, he was the professor of Natural Philosophy at the University of Glasgow for 53 years, where ...

, Sir

Charles Wyville Thomson Sir Charles Wyville Thomson (5 March 1830 – 10 March 1882) was a Scottish natural historian and marine zoologist. He served as the chief scientist on the ''Challenger'' expedition; his work there revolutionized oceanography and led to his ...

, Sir

James David Marwick Sir James David Marwick FRSE (15 July 1826 – 24 March 1908) was a Scottish lawyer, historian and town clerk. He served as Town Clerk of Glasgow for thirty-one years, during which time the entire city was transformed. Its powers and amenities ...

and

James Bryce James Bryce may refer to: * James Bryce (geologist) (1806–1877), Irish naturalist and geologist * James Bryce (footballer) (1884–1916), Scottish footballer * James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce (1838–1922), British jurist, historian and politicia ...

. He was knighted by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in 1887 following her official visit to the city. In 1888 he oversaw the Glasgow International Exhibition in his role of

Lord Provost A lord provost () is the convenor of the local authority, the civic head and the lord-lieutenant of one of the principal cities of Scotland. The office is similar to that of a lord mayor. Only the cities of Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Stirlin ...

. He was then raised to the rank of

Baronet A baronet ( or ; abbreviated Bart or Bt) or the female equivalent, a baronetess (, , or ; abbreviation Btss), is the holder of a baronetcy, a hereditary title awarded by the British Crown. The title of baronet is mentioned as early as the 14th ...

. In 1889 he served on the Royal Commission on the Highlands and Islands and was involved in paving the way for the Crofters Commission. Through the 1880s and 1890s he rented the habitable sections of

Bothwell Castle Bothwell Castle is a large medieval castle, sited on a high, steep bank, above a bend in the River Clyde in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is located between Bothwell and Uddingston, about south-east of Glasgow. Construction of the castle wa ...

from the

Earl of Home Earl of Home ( ) is a title in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1605 for Alexander Home of that Ilk, 6th Lord Home. The Earl of Home holds, among others, the subsidiary titles of Lord Home (created 1473) and Lord Dunglass (1605) in t ...

. In 1910, he has two listed addresses: 115 Wellington Street in Glasgow and

Carstairs House Carstairs House, also known as Monteith House, is a country house south-west of Carstairs South Lanarkshire, Scotland. The house is protected as a category A listed building. History Carstairs House was designed by the Edinburgh architect Wil ...

. Carstairs House was later renamed Monteith House in part due to the confusion and stigma for the similarly named Carstairs Hospital, a hospital once linked with the criminally insane, and itself now also renamed. He died on 1 October 1911.

Family

In 1861 he married Marian Westall, daughter of William Westall of

Streatham Common Streatham Common is a large open space on the southern edge of Streatham in the London Borough of Lambeth. The shallow sloping lower (western) half of the common is mostly mowed grass, and the upper (eastern) half is mostly woodland with some ...

. They had seven children two of which died in early infancy. He was succeeded by John Westall King (1863-1940) 2nd Baronet. He in turn was succeeded by James Granville le Neve King, 3rd Baronet.

Artistic Recognition

His full-length portrait by

Edward Arthur Walton Edward Arthur Walton (15 April 1860 in Glanderston House, Barrhead, Renfrewshire – 18 March 1922 in Edinburgh) was a Scottish painter of landscapes and portraits, associated with the Düsseldorf school of painting. Life Edward was one ...

(commissioned in 1889) is held by Glasgow Council. The Clydesdale Bank commissioned a portrait by

Sir George Reid Sir George Houston Reid (25 February 1845 – 12 September 1918) was a Scottish-born Australian and British politician, diplomat, and barrister who served as the fourth prime minister of Australia from 1904 to 1905. He held office as the ...

. In 1910 he was subject as one of the highly popular series of figures of the day in the magazine Vanity Fair. He appeared under the title of “King of Campsie”. The portrait is signed HCO.Vanity Fair (magazine): 24 August 1910.

References

# {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Sir James 1830 births 1911 deaths Businesspeople from Glasgow Nobility from Glasgow Lord provosts of Glasgow Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Baronets in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom Knights Bachelor 19th-century Scottish businesspeople